Just as we reach $100 per bottle in Scotch whisky, we (finally) arrive at the really good stuff. This is where we get the special bottles that are still on shelves but tower above the bottles languishing not far below them. In short, this is where we get into the gems, folks.
Below, I’ve listed 10 bottles of Scotch whisky that are delicious and all cost just under $90. The pickings might seem slim, but there’s some real variation and depth in this selection of whiskies. This might be the first time I’ve said this, but you should buy each one of these whiskies. It’d be a masterclass in Scottish whisky knowledge and would help you develop your palate!
While I really do think buying all of these is a smart play, I also ranked them. Some of these whiskies are simply a tad more nuanced than others, run deeper, and offer that little bit more. Sound good? Let’s dive in!
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10. Glenmorangie Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky Nectar d’Or
ABV: 46%
Average Price: $88
The Whisky:
This dram from Glenmorangie is a much-loved Highland malt. The juice is matured in ex-bourbon barrels for an undisclosed number of years. The whisky is then transferred to French Sauternes barrels which held sweet dessert wines where it spends two more years finishing.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This has that classic “shortbread cut with lemon and vanilla” vibe that makes some single malts so approachable on the nose while still offering a deep pear, apricot, and marmalade vibe that dances with heather-infused honey and soft malt cookies.
Palate: The sip has a buttery toffee that’s layered with subtle oak, mild brown spices, and more fruits tied into a creamy pudding body with a lush creamed honey foundation.
Finish: The spice leans a little towards ginger on the finish with that buttery shortbread as it slowly fades out through fruit orchards and old honey pots.
Bottom Line:
This is a great place to start any Scotch whisky journey. This is soft and supple. It’s so welcoming and easy-sipping but still offers a great depth and delicious profile.
9. Buchanan’s Special Reserve Blended Scotch Whisky Aged 18 Years
ABV: 43%
Average Price: $84
The Whisky:
This Scotch blend is a mix of Diageo single malt and single grains at least 18 years old. Those whiskies are aged in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks before they are married into this well-crafted expression.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a sense of malt next to hints of orange zest, honey, and bright cherry on the nose with a touch of oak and old barrel houses.
Palate: The palate delivers on the cherry as the orange zest becomes candied and a nutty edge arrives, ushering in a subtle and almost sweet smoke.
Finish: The smoke dries a bit as a note of pine arrives late, supported by the orange, cherry, and honey with a touch of warm spice.
Bottom Line:
This is a nicely subtle smoky whisky. It has touches of old bourbon underneath a smoked maltiness with a good orange creaminess throughline. Pour this over some rocks or into your favorite cocktail and you’ll be all set.
8. Chivas Regal Blended Scotch Whisky Aged 18 Years
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $80
The Whisky:
Chivas 18 is the brand’s signature higher-end blend. The juice is built around a specially made Strathisla 18 single malt. That whisky is supported by 20 other single malts from around Scotland with various casking processes.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This smells like classic “Scotch” from the first sniff thanks to layers of creamy dark chocolate, dried tart berries, buttery toffee, and a sense of marzipan just kissed with rose water and orange oils.
Palate: The palate has a mild old leatheriness that leads to dried roses, salted dark chocolate bars, and smoked cranberry next to a whisper of raspberry vanilla cake.
Finish: The end has a hint of dry and almost woody florals and winter spices next to smoked berries and dry cedar bark.
Bottom Line:
Chivas was made for “on the rocks” sipping and this is the mountaintop of that brand. You know what to do.
7. Bunnahabhain Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky Toiteach A Dhà
ABV: 46.3%
Average Price: $80
The Whisky:
This smoky Islay peated malt, called “Toiteach A Dhà,” means “smoky two.” The whisky is a peated malt that’s matured in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks and then vatted with an eye cast towards the sea and all that sherry wood.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a clear sense of sweet and stewed plums with a focus on cinnamon sticks and an almost spicy smokiness on the nose.
Palate: The palate shifts towards a savory fruit (think pumpkin) with flourishes of dark chocolate next to meaty dates and lightly salted sardines.
Finish: The end leans back into the spicy and very briny smokiness as the malts ebb and flow between sweet and dry with a plummy texture.
Bottom Line:
This is a softly peated whisky that slowly builds on your senses with deeply smoked fruit and chocolate before veering into deep funkiness. It all works and serves as a great palate expander without going too deep on any peated note.
6. Lagavulin Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky Offerman Charred Oak Cask Aged 11 Years
ABV: 46%
Average Price: $80
The Whisky:
This new release is the third collaboration between Lagavulin and Nick Offerman. This time around, the team at Lagavulin took 11-year-old malt and finished it in heavily charred casks that used to hold bourbon and red wine. Those barrels were then batched and built around flavor notes that pair perfectly with a steak dinner.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a rich peatiness that’s tied to pecan chocolate clusters and dried cranberries with a dusting of sea salt, burnt orange zest, and fine nutmeg.
Palate: The palate dips those red tart berries in dark salted chocolate with cinnamon bark and clove buds next to espresso cream and a whisper of malty vanilla wafers with fresh honey in between.
Finish: The end has this enigmatic mix of smoked toffee, salted black licorice, and brandied cherries wrapped in cinnamon-laced tobacco and folded into an old cedar box.
Bottom Line:
This is a very approachable but classic peated Islay malt. There’s a clear peated smokiness that serves as an accent to all the other deep and nuanced flavors of the profile. You might need a rock to get past the peat, but you’ll be rewarded for taking your time to break through.
5. Caol Ila Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky Aged 12 Years
ABV: 43%
Average Price: $85
The Whisky:
Caol Ila is a tiny Islay distillery that is more familiar to hardcore whisky fans than the casual drinker. This expression is the distillery’s entry-point whisky that highlights the subtle peatiness, gentle aging, and the soft lapping of the sea against the distillery’s outer white walls.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a matrix of dried roses soaked in water touched by orange oils, almonds, and a trace of classic Listerine buzziness.
Palate: The sip has a savoriness that feels like olive oil speckled with coarse sea salt next to a distant billow of briny smoke, all counterpointed by sweet malts and fruits.
Finish: The finish sweetens the smokiness with a fruity-yet-spicy tobacco edge while the end fades towards an almost salty-sour hint of citrus.
Bottom Line:
This is probably the best “entry-level” whisky there is. Caol Ila 12 is a quintessential Islay malt that will help you fall in love with the island’s distinct style. Just take it slow, use water to ease into it, and then play around and have fun with it.
4. Old Pulteney Single Malt Scotch Whisky Coast Series Pineau Des Charentes Wine Cask Matured
ABV: 46%
Average Price: $82
The Whiskey:
This limited edition expression is all about seaside aging. The whiskey is left in old American oak casks for years, right next to the sea. Those casks are vatted and re-barreled into hand-made ex-Pineau des Charentes casks from France. Once those barrels are just right, they’re vatted, proofed, and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a classic malted honey vibe on the nose that’s accented by a whisper of bourbon vanilla before apricot jam over buttery scones leads to rum raisin, white pepper, and smoldering winter spice barks.
Palate: Candied almonds and pecan pie lead to Nutella spread over malted honey cakes that turn toward rain on a rocky beach with a whisp of smoked nori floating on the air.
Finish: The Nutella leans into espresso beans as the spices get soft and powdery on the end with a sense of sea salt-flaked dark chocolate-covered orange closing things out.
Bottom Line:
This is kind of like a subtle malted bourbon that’s been gently kissed by a mermaid. It’s so subtle with its savoriness while delivering a truly dark and deeply aged whisky character. It’s kind of delightful. This also makes one hell of an old fashioned.
3. The Glenlivet Nadurra Oloroso Single Malt Scotch Whisky
ABV: 60.7%
Average Price: $81
The Whisky:
This version of The Glenlivet is aged for years in first-fill Oloroso sherry oak. Those casks are vatted and rested and then the whisky goes into the bottle at cask strength.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Mince meat pies, sticky toffee pudding, and dark caramel drive the nose toward apricot jam and marmalade next to buttery scones cut with cinnamon and a whisper of real black licorice.
Palate: The palate is luscious with a sense of creamed honey leading to whipped butter, dark and sharp marmalade, and a thick layer of salted dark chocolate cut with lavender and cinnamon.
Finish: That cinnamon takes on sharpness with anise and allspice on the finish next to soft creamy vanilla, chocolate, and orange cream as warmth builds toward buzzing on the back of your senses.
Bottom Line:
This hides its high ABVs so well. You don’t get that “burn” until the very end and even then it’s well hidden behind creamy spice and orange. Pour this one neat and let it wash over you, and then make an amazing Manhattan with it.
2. Ardbeg BizarreBQ Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky
ABV: 50.9%
Average Price: $83
The Whisky:
This new release from Ardbeg is their first-ever barbecue-inspired release. Ardbeg’s Master Distiller Dr. Bill Lumsden teamed up with DJ BBQ (Christain Stevenson) to build a three-cask whisky. The casks, in this case, were double charred oak, Pedro Ximénez sherry, and “BBQ” casks. The blend was then vatted and bottled as-is at cask strength.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a creamy essence to the nose kind of like the fat on a smoked brisket that leads to an espresso and winter spice rub deep in a charred fattiness with marmalade hints and whispers of smudging sage and singed provencal herbs with this light sense of smoldering hickory ash underneath.
Palate: The taste is creamy as well with a sense of fatty pulled pork smothered in a chili-spiked gingery bbq sauce with creamy honey and plenty of winter spice layered with grilled steak fat flaked with salt and dusted with white pepper as a fainter twinge of black licorice and that smoldering hickory draw a line from the nose to the back of the palate.
Finish: The end leaves you with fatty smoked meats, soft spices tied to burnt orange, and a sense of chili creamed with espresso pudding next to the ashes from a 24-hour smoker smoke session.
Bottom Line:
Spring is on its way and BBQ season with it. This is going to be your go-to for backyard smoking in 2024. The profile is perfectly dialed for slabs of smoked ribs, brisket, salmon, and pork butt.
1. Highland Park Cask Strength Single Malt Scotch Whisky
ABV: 63.3%
Average Price: $85
The Whisky:
This yearly drop is part of a new line from the Orkney Island’s distillery. The whisky is a blend of single malts that are aged exclusively in old American oak that previously held sherry. The barrels are married and bottled as is, to assure you’re getting all the nuance and flavor of their malts meeting that oak.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a light sense of wildflowers on the nose with a rich vanilla husk that leads towards a touch of peat.
Palate: The taste is surprisingly silken (for a cask strength) with rich and buttery toffee next to honeysuckle, eggnog spices and creaminess, and a small dose of orange zest as a counterpoint.
Finish: The end holds onto the creaminess and spices as the peat just edges in with a whisper of resinous pine smoke.
Bottom Line:
This is probably the best whisky to get for fans of bold and strong bourbons to get them into Scotch. This is just really good whisky, folks. If you like a bold bourbon, you’ll likely love this too.